I remember that first year of school was the first time in years I had a reason to buy school supplies. The end of summer vacation may have sucked, but it was always fun to get new supplies, cool folders, notebooks and so forth.
A cool backpack is a critical choice, especially if you let your kids have a voice. Dillon loved Batman, while Logan navigated more to Spiderman.... The number of debates on which super hero would win in a fight was at least a weekly occurrence, quite often spilling over to the living room floor. So it should not be a surprise the boys picked their favorite super heroes to be on their backpacks.
In fact, buying school supplies for kindergarten, first and second grade saw the boys grab those theme of backpacks, as well as folders and pencils. So when it was time to purchase their 3rd grade supplies I picked up a Batman and Spiderman backpack and then asked the boys, ".....do you all like these?"
I was stunned when my sons rolled their eyes, looking at me like I was crazy and forcefully said, ".....heck no dad, we are not kids anymore. We want grownup backpacks!......." I was stunned....and a little sad to see my boys growing up so soon.
Our school district housed K-2nd grades in one building, 4 and 5th grades in a second building, with 6-8 grades at the middle school. All the students rode the same school buses, .....I think that is why my boys decided the "big kids" did not like the super heroes. True enough when I looked around by the 3rd grade kids were already grouping by their interest.
Athletes had sport themed items for instance, with my boys leaning toward baseball, football and basketball themes. Interest in sporty items lasted until middle school, at which time the kids simply wanted their favorite colors. (I also noticed the triplets followed a similar pattern as they aged as well)
Our kids are all seniors this year (2 seniors in college - 3 seniors in high school). It has been years since a super hero of any kind graced our home.....Same goes for princesses..... That is truly a shame, I miss the days of innocence, when Batman, Spiderman and Ironman went to war in the living room. Or when Elsa and Anna taught dad the ins and outs of being a Disney character.......
When does childhood end....... I think the beginning of the end is when a child first discovers Santa isn't real.... or maybe it's when heroes and princesses are no longer cool.
What say you?
